


A Necessary Risk

by intricatepoppy95



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Grinding, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Out, Persona 5 Protagonist is from Inaba, Ryuji is Yosuke’s Cousin, Ryuji is an impulsive Prince Charming, Underage Drinking, Valentine’s Day, let ryuji say fuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:33:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22601032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intricatepoppy95/pseuds/intricatepoppy95
Summary: This was stuck in draft hell for about a year before I got the courage to post it. Shoutout to my fiancé and my bff @RavenWhitecastle for putting up with my insecurity nonsense about this. Enjoy my disasters!
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakura Futaba, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Okumura Haru/Yuuki Mishima, Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 12
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter 1

Valentine’s Day was always Akira’s least favorite holiday, and it looked like this year was about to be the same level of awful. Leblanc had been nothing but charming couples all day, exchanging chocolates and sweet words and giving him the side eyed glance that screamed “how pathetic.” After nearly a year at Shujin, he should have been used to those stares, but today was different. Valentine’s was always different. 

Generally, it wasn’t like Akira to be bitter. Most everyone who actually knew him knew he was a very kind and gentle soul, and, with the assault charges finally cleared for him, no one would ever question his personality. Still, Valentine’s Day gave Akira the exact opposite thoughts. He spent the entire day internally screaming at the affection around him, wanting nothing more than to “accidentally” spill curry on the snuggly couples’ laps.

It wasn’t even that he couldn’t get a girlfriend. The multiple confessions of undying love Akira used to receive every year at his old school proved that this year’s lack of attention was due to his record. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attractive. He’d turned down gorgeous women like Tae and Ohya not even 3 months ago. Akira just had the unfortunate affliction of being gay and deep in the closet while still in high school, and that made life very difficult. 

He’d just started back on washing the pots and dishes from the day while briefly being grateful that the Metaverse no longer existed (this Valentine’s Day was enough to give him a full blown palace) when the doorbell heralded the last customers entrance for the day. He glared at the soapy water while scraping leftover bits of curry off of the plate.

“Akira?” Sojiro peered around from the front counter at the scowling boy.

“Boss.” Akira didn’t even looked up from the dish he was scouring.

“Akira.”

“Boss.”

“AKIRA.”

“WHAT.” Akira splashed the plate into the water, flinging soap bubbles everywhere in the process.

“If you would like to stop vengefully washing my dishes for 10 minutes, someone is here to see you.” Sojiro looked the boy up and down. “You may want to get the dish soap out of those curls, boy, and maybe try on a smile.”

Akira rolled his eyes, but only once his guardian had his back turned. He yanked off his apron, quickly ran a hand through his messy hair, and sullenly made his way out of the kitchen. 

Standing by the door was an equally sullen looking Ryuji, his blonde hair wet from the drizzling February rain, looking like a gift from St. Valentine himself. Akira blushed at that last thought, but smiled and crossed the floor to his best friend. 

“Hey Akira,” Ryuji muttered, looking everywhere but His friends face. The boy’s eyes finally landed on Akira’s head. “Why do you have bubbles in your hair, dude?”

“Oh! I was just washing dishes. I thought I got them all out.” Akira reached up to fix it, but was stopped by Ryuji’s hand. 

“Let me do it. I can see better,” he mumbled, gently brushing out the last of the bubbles from the thick black curls. “Honestly, ‘kira, ever heard of a hairbrush?” Akira could hardly breathe. He tried not to stare at the freckles on the other boy’s nose or count his eyelashes or any of the other things that would cause him to pass out from sheer elation of having him so close.

He silently scolded himself. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been physically close to Ryuji before. He was Akira’s first friend in Tokyo, and they’d spent so much time together, whether it was fighting for their lives or working out or just eating ramen after school. Akira had no idea when this crush started, but he’d always figured it was just a side effect of fighting so hard alongside someone. It wasn’t until Ryuji nearly sacrificed himself for the Phantom Thieves that Akira realized it was more. So, so much more. 

“Yo, you ok there, bro? You’re spacin’ out again.” 

Akira shook himself out of his reverie. “Yeah, no, s’fine. I just had a long day.”

“Tell me about it! Everyone, I mean, EVERYONE has someone they’re with. Even Yusuke got chocolates from a girl, and he’s a freak!”

“I wouldn’t call him a freak, Ryuji, he’s our friend.”

“Dude. The guy screamed at a random couple on the pond because they moved while he was drawing them. He spent the last of his beach money on LOBSTERS. He’s a freak.”

“Fair. He’s not bad looking though.”

Ryuji snorted. “If you’re into starving, broody artists, and that’s a pretty specific type.”

“Oh, so, he’s not your type?” Akira asked teasingly, pretending to be shocked. “If he’s not, then who is?”

Ryuji turned the shade of rose he always did when subject matters got personal. “I mean, I dunno. Not Yusuke. I mean, obviously,” he stammered out, laughing nervously.

Akira sunk a little. “Yeah, obviously.”

Just as the ensuing silence reached an awkward peak, Sojiro stepped out of the back room. “I’m gonna head home and leave you two to it. Lock up and don’t have too much fun now,” he said with a wry smile. Somehow, Akira knew that Sojiro had figured him out. It didn’t seem to bother him or Futaba, and that was a blessing. He still gave Sojiro an exasperated look as he left, which only made the old man chuckle. Akira followed him and locked the door as Sojiro turned the sign, mouthing, “Go get him, tiger” through the glass. 

When he turned back around, Ryuji had already thrown himself into a booth, pouting, which was, Akira silently noted, pretty much the most adorable thing ever.

A voice piped up from under the table. “If you two are done gossiping like old ladies, could you let meowt?” Ryuji jumped and fell over as Morgana deftly leapt up from between his legs.

“WHAT THE EFF? Have you been down there this whole time, you damn cat?”

“I’m not a cat! And yes, and if you don’t want me to tell Yusuke what you said, you’d better stop calling me that for good!” Morgana turned his big blue eyes to Akira. “Unlike you two, I have plans. I’ll be back whenever.” He jumped onto the boy’s shoulders, purring. “You know, if you two end up busy, just keep your window shut and I’ll stay away,” Morgana whispered to Akira. “You could do worse, not much, but worse.”

Akira opened the door and dumped the small being off his back. “Just get out of here and go have fun. I’m positive I’ll see you tonight.”

“Maybe you will, maybe you won’t,” Morgana singsonged as he sauntered away.

Akira closed and locked the door, taking the time to at least try to make things seem casual. He flopped down across from Ryuji. “No word from anyone? Not even Mishima?”

Ryuji threw his phone down. “No! The damn traitor went and got himself a date. Like, for real! What does that little nerd have that I don’t?”

A date with the heiress to the Okumura fortune, thought Akira. He’d spent all of the past two days helping the two nervous puffballs plan their Valentine’s date. Haru had begged Akira to help her create a perfect secret admirer letter for the shy volleyball player, and Mishima had no idea who had asked him, but had pleaded with Akira to help him with his outfit and taming his messy hair. It was pretty cute watching them both be flustered over each other, even if it left Akira feeling like the spinster aunt of the group.

“I mean, at least I have you, bro,” Ryuji said with a smile. “You’d never leave me for some girl, right?”

Akira chuckled at how beautifully clueless Ryuji was. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Ryuji.”

“That reminds me!” Ryuji started digging through his coat pockets. “Here.” He tossed something shiny onto the table. 

A chocolate.

Looking down at the small, pink candy in front of him, Akira felt his heartbeat racing. The words lodged themselves in his throat, as he felt the blush creep up around his ears, a tell he was certain his best friend would notice. Barely able to look the blond boy in the eye, Akira finally choked out the question he was terrified to learn the answer to.

“Is this a confession?”

Ryuji sputtered and turned red. “What?! Hell no, man!” He began awkwardly laughing it off, not noticing Akira’s smile drop and the tears starting to form in his dark eyes. 

Akira shook his head, managing to break out that mask of a carefree smile, but his heart was absolutely shattered by that perfect laugh. 

“The girl at the convenience store was handin’ them out, and I figured I’d share it with you. You’ve been through a lot lately,” he said softly, placing a hand on Akira’s arm. “I just wanted to remind you that there is some little good things in the world, you know?”

Akira couldn’t even meet his friend’s eyes. The months in the detention center were awful. He was kept alone. Often, all he had to rely on was his memories, and even those got twisted with the anxiety of being forgotten by his friends. He really should have known that the Phantom Thieves had been working night and day trying to clear his name. 

With tears in his eyes, he smiled at Ryuji. “Thank you. You have no idea how special you are to me.” He took the chocolate, broke it in half, and passed some over. Ryuji lit up like a Christmas tree and happily popped it in his mouth. Watching his friend savor his only Valentine treat, Akira was certain of one thing: he wasn’t letting his schoolboy crush get in the way of the best friendship he’d ever made.

***

“Well this is it.” Akira took one last look around the attic of Leblanc. He was going to miss his little haven. To say he wasn’t looking forward to going back to his big empty house far away from everyone he met and came to love in Tokyo was the understatement of the millennium. 

Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s duffel. “You almost ready? I wanna see your home!”

“You’re already here.”

The cat went quiet for a moment. He looked up at the wistful boy with his big, unblinking blue eyes. “Akira, are you gonna be alright? You don’t have to go.”

“Yes, I do. My parents are expecting me.”  _ Not that they deserve to expect ANYTHING from me at this point, _ Akira thought vengefully. The fact that his mother and father couldn’t be bothered with a single phone call or even a message the entire year he’d spent in the city still stung. 

“Akira...” He’d been so caught up in his thoughts that he’d missed Morgana climbing out of the bag and into his lap. It was the most comforting thing he could have asked for at this moment, and Akira was reminded of how grateful he was to have the little fuzzball.

Sojiro gently knocked on the wall to the staircase. “Kid? You ready?”

_ Now or never,  _ Akira thought. He was a little sad his friends hadn’t come over to say goodbye, but they’d spent most of the night before trying not to cry while enjoying each other’s company and reminiscing. Honestly, he didn’t think his heart could handle another round of goodbyes. 

“I’m on my way down, Boss.”

***

“You guys all set? Haru says they’re on their way over!” Ann asked brightly. The rest of the Phantom Thieves had been busily signaling each other when Akira had visited them so they could get together and create a wonderful surprise for him. Ryuji was honestly so anxious for Akira to get there, he could barely contain himself. 

“Hey Ryuji, take a chill pill,” Futaba grumbled from where she was snuggled up next to Yusuke. The hacker hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before and was super grumpy. “Your leg bouncing is shaking the whole van.”

“For real? Sorry, Futaba. I’m just excited! ‘Kira’s gonna be so surprised!” Futaba just grumbled back at him and pushed herself further into the artist’s side. They made a surprisingly sweet couple, weird in all the right ways for each other. 

“He won’t be if he sees a strange van shaking, not to mention you’re really drawing attention to us. Those men in the black car are still watching.” Makoto nodded her head almost imperceptibly toward the conspicuously inconspicuous luxury car with tinted windows. 

Ryuji consciously stopped his bouncing as much as he could. He couldn’t help that he was nervous. Akira was his best friend, and today was the day that they were sending him back home to his family. It had been Ann’s idea to get everyone together to say goodbye, and then it sort of spiraled from there. Knowing Makoto had her license definitely made things easier when it came to planning something elaborate. It wasn’t the most elaborate or daring plan they’d made, but damn if it wasn’t the most exciting, at least, to Ryuji.

To be perfectly honest, Ryuji hadn’t slept at all the night before. He kept imagining the surprised look on Joker’s face when he’d see all his friends pop out of the van, and that image was just so CUTE, he couldn’t close his eyes without seeing his friend’s mouth form that adorable little “o” it did whenever something caught him off guard. Ryuji’d kept Ann up, too, texting her everything that’d crossed his mind about Akira. It was well after three in the morning when Shiho had finally texted him back on Ann’s phone saying to call it a night or she would hobble her way over to his place and knock him out herself. It wasn’t Ryuji’s fault that Akira was the most interesting and fantastic human on earth, everyone else just wasn’t lucky enough to see it that way. 

Thinking back, Ryuji wasn’t sure when these feelings had started existing inside him. All he knew was that he felt them now and that was that. He’d made plans with Ann to confess his weird and slightly embarrassing crush on Valentine’s day, but he’d chickened out when he heard the tone in Akira’s voice. It had sounded so hollow, so shocked, that Ryuji just clammed up, terrified of being found out for the truth.

He was so in love with his best friend.

“They’re outside! Get ready everyone!” Ann’s fluffy pigtails shook wildly as she got in position, tickling Ryuji’s nose and jolting him out of his daydream.

***

“Hey, we’re here.” Ryuji felt a gentle nudge on his head, waking him from a much needed nap. He opened his eyes and realized where he had chosen to snooze. 

Bolting upright out of Akira’s lap, he started apologizing profusely. “I’m sorry, dude! I didn’t get, like, any sleep last night and I guess I just passed out, y’know?”

“It’s okay, it was kinda sweet.” Akira smiled that sweet, small smile of his and Ryuji melted into himself. He always had a knack for saying things that left Ryuji needing a whole Amrita Shower to himself. 

“But you did drool on my pants a little.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened in shock and began to prepare an elaborate apology before he saw the playfulness in Joker’s smirk. “For real?! You punk! You know that I’m self conscious about that!” His friend laughed openly. Ryuji could count on his fingers how many times he’d seen that happen, and it never failed to leave him speechless. His friend just… sparkled. Do boys sparkle? Ryuji didn’t care at that point, sparkle was the perfect word for it. 

Akira leaned in toward Ryuji and stared him in the eyes, murmuring, “You know you’re gonna miss me.” Ryuji felt his face grow hot and his breath hitch. There was no way Akira missed that; he had to have figured him out. Instead of teasing him, though, the raven haired angel just leaned his forehead in and hummed in contentment, (thankfully) closing his eyes and missing Ryuji turning pink.

“Hey you two! Stop making goo-goo eyes at each other and come help us unpack the picnic!” Ann was shouting from where she stood with the others, having given Ryuji and Akira a little time to wake up but also never missing a chance to tease the boys. She knew about both of their feelings for each other, and the blonde was desperately hoping for them to confess before the night was over because she really couldn’t take any more of either of their disaster gay babbling. 

As soon as they heard that, Akira sprang away and fumbled in a very un-Akira-like way with his glasses. His ears had turned unmistakably pink, and Ryuji just turned and flipped Ann off.  _ Way to ruin the effing mood.  _ He knew she was just trying to help in her own Panther Patented way, but seriously. She needed to learn to read the room.

He looked over at Akira who looked sheepishly pensive, and nudged him with his elbow. “Hey, Haru made the picnic, so you know it’s good. Let’s go celebrate your homecoming, man.”

Before he could get too far out of earshot, Ryuji could swear he heard Akira scoff: “Homecoming.”

***

Makoto had protested surprisingly little when Ann brought out the bottles of alcohol she stole from her parents’ liquor cabinet. “As long as Futaba doesn’t drink any and you guys don’t get too out of hand, I’m willing to turn a blind eye. I’m just going to stay sober so I can drive us all to Akira’s.”

The group was huddled around the bonfire, passing around a bottle of… something expensive (Akira thinks he heard Ann say it was tequila ‘imported from Mexico’), careful to skip Futaba and Makoto every round. He was definitely feeling something not unlike what the clinical trials felt like: warm, puddly and a little headstrong. He snuggled into the person next to him. “I really love you guys,” Akira slurred, cuddling into the person next to him even further. They smelled nice, like cedarwood and mint and leather. He sighed contentedly into their arm.

“Dude, you’re a lightweight, aren’t you?” Akira blearily blinked up at his new teddy bear. Through his drunken haze, he could make out the big brown eyes and fuzzy blond hair he loved so much. “Come on, let’s get you on a short walk, get some of that out of your system.” Ryuji picked up Akira like he weighed nothing at all, calling to the group that they were going on a little adventure so Akira could take a breather. Someone wolf-whistled, someone else cat-called, but Akira didn’t care. He was on cloud nine right now.

He grabbed onto Ryuji at the elbow like a goddamn koala. “My hero. You’re so strong, Juji. Strong and pretty. Like a prince!” He gasped and stopped in his tracks. “You’re my Destinyland prince!” 

Ryuji chuckled (why did he sound so far away?), “You’re pretty drunk, ‘KiraKira. But sure, if I’m a Destinyland prince, who’s my princess?”

Akira thought very seriously for a moment. Haru was probably the closest to a real life princess any of them knew, but she and Ryuji just didn’t fit. Makoto was way too strict for his punk friend, and Futaba had Yusuke, so that left- “Ann. Ann is your princess, she’s pretty and blonde, too, right?”

Ryuji shook his head. “Ann is my friend, she’s definitely not my type.”

“I asked you what your type was on Valemtimes but you never told me! Tell me now, please?” Akira mustered up what he thought were his best puppy dog eyes ever.

“You remember that? That’s pretty impressive.”

“Ryuji,” Akira placed his hand on Ryuji’s shoulder, swaying just a bit as he tried to focus on his friend. “Ryuji. I remember, like, everything you have ever said to me. It’s super important to me. Now tell me what your type is, butt-head.” He punched at his arm, but stopped and switched to feeling his muscles.

Ryuji placed his hand on top of Akira’s, laughing at his friend’s drunken antics. “So, you wanna know my type, huh? Well, let’s see: someone smart, someone with great leadership skills, someone who keeps us all in line, I definitely prefer dark hair-”

“Oh.” Akira dropped his hands and looked disappointed. Heartbreak round two.

***

Ryuji had no idea what to do when his best friend pulled away, turning and sitting on the nearest rock. Akira put his head in his hands, his curls wobbling a little bit as he swayed.

“Wait, what did I say?” Ryuji still wasn’t fully sober, but he felt even more dazed by Akira’s reaction to him basically confessing his feelings. He rushed over to the rock and sat down carefully.

“It’s nothing… you’re in love with Makoto, aren’t you?”

Ryuji gaped at Akira, wondering how someone so smart could be so oblivious. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud until he was in tears.

“Hey… don’t laugh at me... “ Akira was pouting. The only thing that stopped Ryuji’s hysterics was seeing his sweet, drunk friend start to tear up. His laughter died and he immediately pulled the dark haired boy in for a hug, hushing him and apologizing. 

“I definitely don’t have a thing for Makoto. She’s cool, but she’s  _ Queen _ . Her true love is justice and I could never come between that.” Akira sniffled a laugh, mumbling something about ‘she hated Akechi.’ Ryuji had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. 

He had to tell him.

Ryuji took a deep breath. “No man, I have a type, but you have to promise me you won’t run away when I tell you.” He held out his pinky, like a little kid.

Akira solemnly took his pinky in his own, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Ryuji didn’t know how he couldn’t hear his heart trying to escape his chest. 

“Okay, lemme finish then, man.” Ryuji shifted to face Akira, which only made the situation that much more intimidating. He took a deep breath and continued, “So, adding to those awesome qualities that I said before, I like people with dark,  _ curly _ hair,” he hesitantly stated. Ryuji reached up and stroked into his friend’s soft curls. Akira hummed and pushed into the touch, leaving the other’s brain on the fritz. “Um.. and I like people with beautiful dark eyes and thick, long lashes… I like people who laugh so rarely but sparkle like the sun when they do…” Ryuji was barely whispering at this point, hardly able to breathe with Akira’s big, black eyes gazing up at him with wonder, reflecting the stars in the sky.

He took in a shaky breath.  _ Here goes nothin’.  _ “Akira, I like  _ you _ .”

Akira paused for a moment, leaving Ryuji a bundle of nerves and terror, before quietly starting, “Ryuji?”

“Yeah?” He could barely hear himself over the waves on the beach and his own heartbeat.

Akira turned him by the shoulder and slid his arms around Ryuji’s neck. “I think I’m gonna kiss you now,” he whispered, tequila still on his lips as they pressed clumsily into Ryuji’s own.

Ryuji had only been kissed a couple other times in his life, once by Ann at a middle school party during a game, and once by a girl in kindergarten on the swings, but neither had prepared him for the feeling of Akira’s lips on his. He swore that the tequila he could taste on him was twice as intoxicating as the stuff he drank. Somehow, Akira was still as skilled with this as anything else even though he was completely wasted. Subconsciously, Ryuji’s hands moved to hold Akira closer, one hand on his back, one entangled in his hair, and Akira-  _ oh god _ \- Akira hummed into his mouth as he deepened the kiss. The surprise caused Ryuji to open his mouth just enough for Akira to take advantage of that and slide his tongue inside. His knees went weak, and he whimpered at the sudden change in closeness. Akira smirked against his lips, and, oh, that lit Ryuji’s competitive fire.  _ It’s on now. _

Ryuji shifted his hands and quickly pulled Akira further onto his lap, making him squeak in surprise.  _ Gotcha.  _ Unfortunately for the blonde, the squeak melted into an absolutely sinful moan as their bodies gained more contact. “Shit, Akira,” he mumbled against his friend’s(?) mouth. “Why do you gotta be so damn hot?”

“I thought you liked how hot I am?” The dark haired teen ground his hips into him, pressing something  _ very much not soft  _ against his lap. 

“Fuck!”

“Wow, got you to actually swear, I’ll keep that move in mind.”

“I swear all the time!”

“Not that one- HEY!” Ryuji had used the other boy’s distraction to slide his hand up under his shirt, dragging his blunt nails down Akira’s back. The dark haired teen arched into the touch, crying out. “Fuck, please…”

Having a begging Akira practically giving him a lapdance was more than Ryuji’s heart could bear, and his desire almost completely overtook his entire brain (which was  _ definitely _ there, despite what MonaMona always said) when his conscience kicked in.

Akira was still drunk, and, as much as it killed him, he had to put a stop to this. 

“Aki- shit- Akira, hold on a second,” he groaned, trying to gently pull the other boy away from where he was determinedly leaving a hickey on his neck. 

Big, round grey eyes looked up at him, shining in the moonlight, confused and wanting. “What’s up? Was I doing something wrong, Ryuji?”

“No, God, no! Akira, baby,” he felt the pet name slip off his tongue with no way to put it back. “You’re drunk, KiraKira. I’m not going to have our first… whatever this is- be me taking advantage of you.”

Honest to god, Akira pouted when he comprehended what the other said. “I’m not being taken advantage of. Not like I couldn’t kick your ass if you were, even while I’m drunk.”

Ryuji chuckled. “Sure, but please, for me? Let’s talk this over in the morning.” He put on that pleading expression he knew got him anything he wanted from their leader, whether it was a soda from the vending machine or a shiny new shotgun. 

The other really made an effort to ignore his big brown “Shiba Eyes” as they were called, but in the end, the puppy dog look won out. He did, however, stick his arms up in the air, like a toddler asking to be carried.

The blonde barked a laugh. “You want up?”

He nodded, messy curls waving around. “If you won’t do anything sexy with me, at least carry me back to the others.”

Ryuji took the cue to scoop him up, bridal style. After a brief moment of shock, Akira softly snuggled into his chest, lacing his arms back around his best friend’s neck. Nothing had ever felt so right to Ryuji, not running, not eating ramen, not even when Captain Kidd first forged his contract with him. It was all Ryuji could do not to cry at how perfectly Akira fit in his arms. 

He wasn’t gonna be able to take not having him in Tokyo, not for the months it would be between visits. 

When he got back to the campfire, he gently laid Akira on one of the sleeping bags Makoto had packed and made a call.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was stuck in draft hell for about a year before I got the courage to post it. Shoutout to my fiancé and my bff @RavenWhitecastle for putting up with my insecurity nonsense about this. Enjoy my disasters!


	2. Chapter 2

When Yasogami’s final bell rang, Akira couldn’t be more grateful. Ms. Kashiwagi has spent the entire study period railing on about how the Phantom Thieves girls were nothing compared to a mature woman, and it took everything in his power not to leave the classroom in anger.

It had been about a month into the school year, and he was already counting down the days until he could visit Tokyo again. He kept up with the group chat religiously, called Sojiro once a week just to catch his father figure up on his life, and video chatted with Ryuji nearly every night.

God. They still really hadn’t talked about what happened on the beach, always dancing around the subject. It wasn’t like Akira was entirely blameless on this front, and, truth be told, he was pretty hazy about the whole situation, but what he could remember? Absolutely mortifying. Every time he thought about how he basically threw himself at Ryuji he had to stop himself from slamming his head into a wall. He’d seriously considered walking into the Samegawa River when he’d woken up the next morning, hungover but fully aware of most of what had transpired.

It’s not like anything had really changed between the two of them. They were still best friends.

Best friends that had made out one time.

Yeah.

Akira tried to rationalize himself out of a panic; if anything, Ryuji was being more friendly toward him. He was constantly complimenting him, telling him how much he missed him and how he couldn’t wait to see him and hug him again. He hadn’t said anything like ‘hey, that was weird, I never want to do that again,’ but he also hadn’t said ‘hey, what we shared was incredible and I would do anything to feel your lips on mine again.’

Ryuji probably wasn’t that dashingly eloquent, but Akira could fantasize.

He made his way back home, mind desperately trying to avoid thinking about that night. The frustrated boy was so distracted that he barely noticed his phone was ringing until just before the ringtone ended.

Without looking, he answered. “Hello?”

_“Hey, KiraKira!”_

A smile spread across his face, tipped with a soft blush. “Hi, Ryuji. How was your day?”

_“Ennnhhh, pretty boring. Nothin’ too wild. You?”_

“Same. Looking forward to our video chat, though. Kashiwagi was absolutely the WORST today. Shujin may have sucked, but at least most of the teachers were sane.”

A small groan escaped the speaker of his phone. _“About that… I’m sorry, Akira, I have to do some stuff with my cousin tonight. I haven’t seen him in forever and he’s only in town for the day.”_

“Oh, that’s… that’s fine.” His heart sank, but he tried to recover. “I didn’t know you had a cousin.”

 _“Yeah, Yocchan is my cousin on my mom’s side. He’s a music producer and he’s in town for a gig, but anyway,”_ he heard some rustling on the other side. _“Please don’t be sad! We could both video chat with you! I think he’s bringing his fiancé- you’ve probably met him! He runs the cat café in Inaba, yknow, gray hair, bowl cut- and I think you two would get along, and—“_

“Ryuji, it’s okay, I’m not mad. I get you almost every night, I can share for one, promise, sweetheart.”

There was a pause followed by a loud clatter and some swearing. Ryuji must’ve dropped his phone. Akira replayed his last sentence and froze where he stood. Sweetheart?! Where the hell had that come from?! He knew where, but he refused to acknowledge it.

The silence on the other end was deafening. Akira actually checked his screen to see if the call had dropped.

Ryuji let out a small sigh, breath coming out of the phone like a little burst of wind. _“I really miss you, you know? I can’t wait to see you again.”_ He could hear the smile in his voice, shy and bright. If he closed his eyes, he could practically see the blush and soft grin, the same expression he’d worn when telling him that his place was beside Akira and Akira’s was beside him. That was the exact moment he had realized how hard he’d fallen for the runner, and, up and until a month ago, he’d thought that he’d be condemned to pining hell forever.

He was still in hell, but it was a torture chamber of drunk Akira’s design.

Akira barely registered Ryuji calling his name, asking if he was still there. Shaking himself, he nodded, remembered Ryuji couldn’t see him, and replied that he was.

“I miss you too, Juji. Sorry I got a little zoned out there.”

_“No worries! I mean, I was a little worried I’d weirded you out with saying it like that. It’s true! But, y’know, it’s still kind of strange to say it out loud sometimes.”_

“I had a tentacle dick in a chariot living in my head for a while, I don’t think anything is weird at this point.”

 _“Fair enough! Listen,”_ his friend crackled through the phone, _“Yocchan is gonna be here any minute, so I gotta get goin’. I’ll send you pics so you can see us! He’s pretty much the coolest, after you, of course!”_

A dumb swell of pride and jealousy swooped through Akira’s stomach. “Of course. I doubt he can rock leather the way I can.”

Ryuji sputtered and coughed. He must have been drinking something. _“I uh, I mean you're not wrong! But uh, yeah, okay, um, I gotta go, KiraKira! You try to have a good night? I know the only company you have is Morgana, so it won’t be perfect buuuuut…”_

“It’ll be fine, go see your cousin. I better get some selfies so I can see if there’s a family resemblance.”

_“Thanks, Akira, I’ll see you soon okay?”_

“Yup. Bye, Skull.”

Ryuji chuckled. _“See ya, Joker. Love you!”_ And, with a click, the conversation was over.

Akira didn’t register what his friend said until much later, when he was lying in bed, suddenly sitting bolt upright, screaming a little and waking Morgana. He had to promise to pick him up a steak skewer after school in order to get the cat to calm down.

If only he could calm himself.

***

Oh SHIT.

Ryuji stared at his phone with wide eyes. He chucked it onto his bed and scrambled backward, tripping over a pile of boxes and landing in his open suitcase.

“You okay? I heard a crash!” A copper dyed head poked through the door, and, upon seeing Ryuji on his ass, box on his head, and started to laugh uncontrollably. “Oh my god, that takes me back!”

“Yeah, yeah, very funny. Can you come help me, Yocchan?”

“I dunno, I kinda wanna know what caused the track star to lose his footing.”

“ _Ex_ -track star.” Ryuji rolled his eyes and reached out for his cousin. Yosuke was a smart guy, but he was just as much of a smart-ass as Ryuji.

Yosuke padded over to him with a chuckle and helped him up. “‘Once a star, always a star;’ that’s what our friend Rise would say.”

“I still can't believe you went to high school with Risette. She was, like, my first crush!”

His cousin threw his head back and laughed. “That’s right! I remember finding you in here kissing that poster in elementary school. She said the pic I sent was adorable,” he said with a mischievous wink.

“For real?! You sent her a picture of that?!” Ryuji groaned. “As if my day could get any more embarrassing.” He flopped back on his mattress with a dramatic sigh.

“Okay, okay. Does this have anything to do with the boy you’ve been babbling about to us?” Yosuke sat down next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shaking leg. Ryuji just whined and nodded. “Alright, I’m gonna have to call in some back up on this,” he turned and yelled through the house. “Partner!”

A moment later, Yosuke’s fiancé, Yu, came sliding through the doors, first aid kit in hand. He couldn’t have been home from work for more than five minutes and was already prepared for trouble. “What’s wrong? Who’s hurt?”

Yosuke gave Yu a withering look. “Do you always assume one of us is hurt when we hang out?”

Yu came over and planted a kiss on his love’s cheek. “Yep! Your clumsiness is a family trait, and it only magnifies when you two are in the same vicinity.” Ryuji joined in the glaring. “Wow, you two look so alike when you do that, it’s spooky. But in all reality, is everything alright?”

“Matters of the heart. This is your forte.”

“Is it now?”

“Listen, I was a terrible closet case with a crush on you for 5 _YEARS_ before I even attempted to ask you out. It’s your forte.” Yosuke stood, ruffling Ryuji’s hair and giving his partner a peck on the lips. “I’ll go get us all some lunch, you two have a nice talk.”

Yu nodded sagely. “You have a point. Begone, for I have a youth to counsel,” he said regally as he waved Yosuke out of the room.

Yosuke snickered and rolled his eyes. “And they call me the dramatic one.”

Ryuji looked over at Yu. The man was gazing at Yosuke as he left with the softest, most fond look on his face. It made Ryuji wonder if he looked at Akira that way.

Or if Akira looked at him like that.

“Okay. I’m going to take a wild guess and say this is about the boy from the beach story?” Ryuji gave him a weak thumbs up in response. “Figured. What happened now?”

“Well I called him, told him I couldn’t video chat because that would ruin the surprise, but I made a mistake at the end.” He smushed his hands over his burning face, trying in vain to smother himself.

“What, did you tell him about how you m-?“

“No! I mean, unless one of the others blabbed it, he has no idea.”

Yu sighed. “Then what could you possibly have said that’s causing you this much distress?”

“I told him I loved him at the end of the call.”

The room was silent, no sound except the ticking of the weird cat clock on the wall of his new room in his cousin’s house. Ryuji was just about to launch into a self deprecating tirade when-

“You do, don’t you? I don’t see the problem with it.”

Taken aback, Ryuji spluttered, “Wait, for real?”

Yu chuckled. “Yeah, ‘for real.’ Sure, it wasn’t the ideal, perfect moment you probably had planned out, but trust me. That spontaneity pays off. It’s how your cousin and I got together.”

“I dunno,” Ryuji grimaced. “Akira is pretty shy. I just hope I didn’t scare him off.”

“Listen, from what you’ve told us about Akira, and it’s been a lot, he has a lot in common with high school me, and I used to dream about Yosuke confessing to me and sweeping me off my feet, and, you know, less appropriate stuff.” Yu shot him a smirk, trying to coax a reaction out of Ryuji. He made a noise of disgust at the silver haired man, making him laugh. “Honestly, Ryuji? What you’ve got planned is going to prove that what you just told him is true; that you do love him, and it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. You’re going to make him swoon for you, Mister, oh, what was it? Destinyland Prince?”

Ryuji swatted him on the arm half heartedly and sat up. “So it isn’t the end of the world that I just blurted out some of the most intimidating words ever?”

“No, and believe me, I know a thing or two about the end of the world,” Yu said, smiling at the blonde. Ryuji thought there might be more to that than the gray haired man was willing to supply, but he’d learned better than to push people to share things. “You’re a good kid, Ryuji,” he continued. “You remind me so much of Yosuke at that age, and if you turn out anything like him, you’ll make that Akira or whoever you end up with very happy.”

“Shit, after everything I’ve gone through, I hope I end up with him. He’s- god- he’s my best friend. I would do anything for him.” I have literally gone to hell and back for him. Yu rubbed soothing circles on his back, letting Ryuji lean into the comfort.

At that moment, Yosuke popped back in with a bag of takeout. “Hey! Sorry to break up the heart to heart, but I’ve got a ton of Aiya’s that I’m not gonna be able to pack away myself. I’m pretty sure he still sends us enough food for the entire Investigation Team!” The smell of Inaba’s iconic Chinese food hit Ryuji’s nose with a punch and his mouth started watering.

“For real?! You know how much I love this stuff! You two are the best.”

Yu ruffled the blonde’s hair. “Well, you need to eat up and then get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow. Being the new transfer student isn’t easy.”

***

Akira spent the entire school day trying not to pass out on his desk at school. It didn’t help that Yasogami was a bit behind Shujin so the lessons were just review for him, but, in reality, he hadn’t slept at all last night. He’d spent the night staring, wide-eyed and hyperventilating, at the ceiling, replaying the chipper _‘love you’_ over and over like a broken record.

Had Ryuji meant that? Did he intend to send Akira into that wild spiral that left him both weightless and sinking? Or was he saying it out of reflex, like when Mishima had called Miss Kawakami ‘mom’ that one time that no one had let him live down? He was so deep in thought that his teacher actually managed to nail him in the head with a piece of chalk. His classmates tittered amongst themselves, pointing and giggling behind their hands.

He really hadn’t thought anything could be more awkward than when he was first attending Shujin and no one would talk to him, but nothing prepared him for the silent treatment he was receiving from his former friends in Inaba. Akira was sure their parents had told them not to interact with the former felon, even though he was completely acquitted of all charges. Sure, he really was the leader of the notorious Phantom Thieves, but that was the one rumor that everyone thought was untrue. It was absolutely bizarre, but Akira genuinely wished he was back at Shujin dealing with everyone’s stares. Even being treated as a loose cannon criminal was better than being treated like a shunned pariah.

At least he had friends when he was a criminal.

The teacher was going on and on about something, arguing back and forth with their puppet about classical literature, when Akira felt his phone buzz. Checking to see if anyone else was watching, he pulled it out to see a text from the subject of his latest distress.

 **sparky-sharky:**  
hey kirakira! u doin n e thing after school?

 **mr-stealurheart:**  
No, I’m just heading directly home. Still on for a study skype?

  
 **sparky-sharky:**  
course! u should go 2 my cousins fiances cafe first tho. he said he wanted 2 meet u

 **mr-stealurheart:**  
Why?

  
 **sparky-sharky:**  
bc i talked about u 2 him! n u like cats n coffee n sweets n just trust me kirakira! plz?

 **mr-stealurheart:**  
How can I say no to you when I know you’re making Shiba eyes behind the phone?  
What’s the address?

  
 **sparky-sharky:**  
;P  
it’s on main street he says, near the shrine. u promise ur gonna go?

 **mr-stealurheart:**  
I promise, Juji. What’s got you in a state today?

Akira never got a chance to check his replies because the bell rang right after that. He practically leapt out of his desk and bolted for the door, running his way to the lockers to get out as soon as possible. The faster he got out, the faster he could stop by that café, and the faster he stopped by that cafe, the faster he got to go home and call Ryuji.

He was speeding through the halls so quickly, he almost missed the chatter of the other students.

“Did you see that transfer student?”

“Yeah, the bottle blonde third year?”

“Yeah! He looked like a thug, kinda like Mr. Tatsumi at the sewing shop!”

“Heard he came from the city.”

“Wonder if he knows You Know Who.”

“Dumbass! Not everyone in the city knows each other!”

Akira rolled his eyes. They were clearly talking about him, but his curiosity was piqued. He’d met Mr. Tatsumi a few times. Even though Inaba was a small, conservative town, no one could deny the town’s first openly queer man had the keenest eye for fashion in the country, and anyone who had bad things to say was too intimidated by the former biker to open their traps. He may have mellowed with age, but Mr. Tatsumi was pretty much the toughest looking man in town. The dark haired boy certainly didn’t pity this transfer student for giving off that kind of impression, but he felt kind of bad that people were automatically discounting him because of Akira’s reputation. It was the same feeling he had when he found out about his friends’ social standings tanking because they chose to hang out with him, a sort of inky guilt that flowed out from his heart like swirls of watercolor paint in a cup.

With a final shake of his curls, he gathered his things and darted out the front door. Whispers about the new kid continued as he made his way to the front gate, and Akira was filled with a sort of anticipation he couldn’t quite place. His heart fluttered, his ears heated up. It was a feeling he’d grown to associate with being around-

Akira froze. He pulled out his phone, staring at the ray of human sunshine he had as a lock screen. His hands shook. _There’s no way. He couldn’t have…_

The dark boy broke into a full sprint, weaving between the other students. He raced past the Samegawa, his lungs burning as he rounded the corner into downtown Inaba. _There’s no way._

He had such complete tunnel vision that he almost went right past the cat café. It had a sweet yellow sign and a sunny interior, with cats lounging in the windows, soaking up the last of the daylight. Akira reached out for the handle, hesitating. He was both terrified and excited for what he was about to see behind the door.

_Now or never._

The door opened with a soft chime, a silver bell on the handle jingling. He was immediately hit with the sweet smell of cookies and pastries and the familiar burn of coffee filled his nose. A voice he knew like the back of his hand called out. “Be there in a sec!”

Akira felt his knees turn to jello as a lanky form in a Yasogami uniform made its way out from the back room. Bleached hair blinded him in the glare from the setting sun, and brown eyes warmer than any coffee lit up with an even brighter glow. The world’s most brilliant smile lit up the face that had made every second of hell in Tokyo worth it, and the dark haired boy lost his battle with gravity, sinking to his knees.

“Ryuji?” His voice wasn’t even a whisper.

“Hey, KiraKira. Missed you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yu runs a cat café bc he’s too sweet to handle the stress of being a lawyer after the whole saving the world multiple times bs and his marvelous partner insisted he quit since he could support them as a music producer. 
> 
> Also please imagine that clock as one of those hideous vintage cat clocks where the tail ticks back and forth.


End file.
